Not exactly up on your constellation knowledge? Photographer Peter West Carey explains how to find Polaris, the North Star, for both practical survival purposes—and to help orient your nighttime photo experiments for great effects.

Carey's post at Digital Photography School explains how to use the two celestial poles above the Earth to get circular patterns, gradual star curves, and other effects with a long exposure shot. Carey also provides a beginner's tip on finding the North Star for orientation:

Speaking of location, let's find the North Star. It's fairly simple and you only need to know one constellation, the Big Dipper or Ursa Major. I usually reference this constellation rather than the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor), even though Polaris is part of the Little Dipper, because the Big Dipper has ‘brighter' stars (I know I'm disturbing some astronomers out there with a few colloquial terms and I apologize). Once you have found the Big Dipper, connect the dots from the bottom of the outside of the dipper (farthest from the handle) to the top of the outside of the dipper. Now follow that line until you meet the next bright star. That's Polaris and it is at the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper.

Our woods-trekking grandparents would be so proud. For more on photography in the night sky, check out the Wired How-To Wiki's guide to shooting the stars.